Return of a legend
by FantazyFanatic217
Summary: John 117 has to battle for humanity against the didact and the composer. Along the way, new problems arise when the Spartan that accompanies starts to have 'problems'. His years of training couldnt have prepared him for this. Takes place in the events of Halo 4. Eventual John/OC. Please review!
1. Prolog

Prolog

In the far depths of space, just beyond the outer rim, far from civilization, lay the final resting place of the _Forward unto Dawn_. She was split in half as the result of a cataclysmic rupture from a newly created ring. Installation 04B to be exact. While still in its construction stage, the ring was prematurely fired. The installation couldn't sustain its self, causing it to break apart.

While fleeing the self destructing installation, the portal transporting them collapsed, splitting the ship. The bridge made it back to Earth. But the cargo hold, main engines, and its inhabitants did not.

And now, it lies forgotten.

This was thought to be the tomb of Spartans 117 and 235, known as John and Olivia. Thought but never confirmed.

Within the silent halls of the frigate, someone was awake. It seemed… frightened, frantic, and uneasy. Electricity surged through ships systems, gathering in a holo tank in the cryo bay. A flood of light flashed over it as the holo form of an A.I appeared. Her head twisted to face the entrance to the cryo bay. Her expression panicked and visibly worried.

Her eyes flashed to the cryo pods. Biting her lip in anxiety, she called for a holo panel at her finger tips. She cycled through the ships systems, scanning for any recent disturbances. She prayed that it was just her nerves on edge, just her anxiety getting the better of her. She begged for it to be nothing.

To her displeasure, several system alerts flashed over the screen. Bright red circles flashed over the map of the ship, outlining several hull breaches.

She immediately calls for the cryo bay control panel. Cryo tubes 17 and 18 read as online. Hesitation coursed through her as she tapped the word "activate" on the panel.

"Wake up… I need you."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Frost thawed from the glass of the cryo tube. Her intense green eyes slowing opening for the first time in 4 years. Through hazy vision she looked around. "What the…"

Her eyes flashed open immediately, her hands flying to the glass in front of her. Alarm and panic surged through her. Her mind didn't fully process her surroundings just yet.

"Easy Liv, you're ok." Cortana said from her position in on the holo tank. Her voice seemingly comforting. "You've been asleep for a while."

"That explains why I feel a lot older." Liv murmured in her groggy state. The magnetic locks to her cryo tube hissed open. She shoved the door open, stepping out of the tube. She was a bit wobbly and unbalanced at first; she had to force her legs to hold her up right. Her joints achingly stiff from being under used. Fatigued over took her.

Liv leaned against an empty cryo tube while she waited for her body to adjust and recalibrate it's self. Cracking her neck, she asked, "How long was I out."

"4 years, 7 months, 10 days." The AI answered quickly, dismissing the topic at that. Urgent to move to a more important issue.

"While the other popsicle is thawing, I have some information you might want to know about your _condition_." Cortana said.

Olivia glanced to Cortana, signaling for her to continue. "I monitored your vitals while you were out. Your brain patterns are… unchanged…" Cortana sighed.

"So nothing's wrong with me." Liv shrugged. "I didn't say that." Cortana said flatly.

Alarm struck the Spartan. "It's very hard to explain actually. There's definitely something… inside of you. But whatever it is, it doesn't interfere with your life functions." The A.I. explained. "Sense I was made aware, I haven't noticed any physical or mental changes. But the problem is… 1, you're hidden by your armor, I couldn't find any physical problem if I tried. And 2, you were kind of a sleep for 4 years. Any personality changes, if any, should show up soon."

Liv wanted answers, she wasn't getting any. Whatever was living inside her, terrified her beyond belief. Something had invaded her body and was growing in her. She knew she wasn't infected; the parasite had been destroyed on installation 04B. Even if she was infected, it had 4 years to spread, yet she felt fine.

She couldn't explain what happened to her on _The Ark_; it would be too difficult to understand. When it first happened to her, she brushed it off. It didn't seem too urgent at the time. The more she thought about it, the more anxious and uneasy she felt.

Whatever it is, it had over 4 years to grow and manifest. Liv wouldn't be able to hide its presence from John for very long, especially when the signs start to show. John had known her for 8 years, he'd know if something was wrong.

Sighing heavily she said, "Not one word about this reaches John. Unless this… _thing_ causes any problems, I don't want him worrying about it."

Cortana understood Olivia's intentions. There was a lot to worry about right now. Liv didn't want to add to that list.

"Understood."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Seems like old times." Cortana smiled as John climbed out of the cryo tube. "Ready to get back to work?"

"I thought you'd never ask." John yanked her data chip free of the consol and inserted it into the slot in the back of his helmet.

Her smile was hidden behind her visor. "Sure you're not too rusty?" she teased. "I was about to ask you the same thing." John smirked. "I guess cryo stasis didn't diminish your sense of humor." Liv rolled her eyes.

"I found multiple intrusion alerts. It's probably best if you get to the observation deck 4 floors up." Cortana explained cutting in.

"Could it be a rescue team?" "I doubt it." Both of them had a feeling that things were about to get messy. One way or another, trouble always had a way of finding them. Things were never too easy.

While John was more concerned about the immediate problem, Liv let her thoughts drift to another concerning matter.

As they walked forward, Olivia tried to calm her nerves about what Cortana said. But her mind was going a mile a minute about this. What would happen to her? How would she be affected? Could she be fixed? How long could she keep this quiet? What would she tell John if he found out?

She shoved all of it to the back of her mind. She'd handle this one step at a time. She knew if she didn't calm herself down, then her nerves would get the better of her.

Olivia's thoughts were abruptly stopped by a high pitched sound, almost like a shriek but more metallic. A transparent wall of orange swept across the room, passing through the both of them.

"What the hell was that?" Liv snapped. "Sensor scan, high intensity, doesn't match any known patterns." Cortana answered a hint of panic showing in her voice. "How far are we from the observation deck?" John said. "It's directly above us; elevators should be in the next room."

Their walk increased to a run, hustling to the elevators. "Those doors look sealed tight."

"Not a problem." Olivia said under her breath. After magnetizing her assault rifle to her back, she jammed her fingers into the crevice between the 2 doors. Prying the doors apart, the screech of metal scrapping against metal rang in her head.

Shoving the doors aside, Liv was staring at and empty elevator shaft. "Well shit." She reached up, her hand latching on to the door frame as she leaned over the edge. Glancing upward she spotted an open platform a good 30 to 40 feet up the shaft. Then she looked down to see how far of a fall it would be. This would be helpful if the bottom was actually visible.

"Looks like we're climbing from here." She said. Without another word, Olivia took a few steps back. Then, she sprinted forward and leaped across the elevator shaft, her fingers latching on to the closest ledge she could find. John followed suit.

She reached upward for the next ledge. It was either her extreme fear of heights or just the side effects of cryo stasis hadn't worn off yet that held her back. John had already moved farther along. Adjusting her hold on the ledge about her, she moved to pull herself up.

Her vision started to act up. Her vision began to cloud and blur. At first she thought it was just her visor getting dirty. But then it started to get worse. She blinked, trying to get her vision to clear up. But the more she did the worse it got.

"The hell…" Her eyes were playing tricks on her. It was like she was hallucinating, clouds of bright cyan started to block out her sight. She had to stop.

Olivia wedged herself in the corner, propping her legs up between the back wall and the side of the shaft. With her hands free, she brought them up to her head and found the release latches to her helmet. Her jet black hair fell down over her shoulders. Tucking her helmet under her arm, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her vision cleared a little but not by much.

_Ok, not a problem., it'll pass in a moment. Maybe I have something in my eyes. _Using her helmet's visor as a mirror, she looked to see if something had gotten into her eyes, dust maybe. Something wasn't right. Her eyes, they were…

"Liv, you alright down there?" John called down to her. Liv quickly lowered her head, hiding her eyes. She shoved her helmet back onto her head.

"I'm fine! I just…" Her body locked up. Her muscles wouldn't listen to her anymore. Her legs refused to maintain her balance. Her right leg involuntarily jerked forward, she slipped. "LIV!"

Olivia snapped out of her hazy condition. She fought for control over her body. Forcing her hand forward, her fingers barely caught the ledge.

Her heart pounded in her chest. Her mind going a mile a minute to try and process what happened to her. Ice and adrenaline ran through her veins. _What the hell is happening to me?_


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Olivia hoisted herself up onto the platform, still trembling from the fall. "What the hell happened to you?" John said. "I just lost my grip that's all." Liv quickly waved off the topic. John narrowed his eyes. She was normally a strong climber. It wasn't normal for her to just loose her grip like that. He suspected the side effects of cryo stasis hadn't worn off yet and dismissed it at that.

"I think I found out who was causing those intrusion alerts." John said. Liv turned to head to the observation deck. "What makes you say tha- AH!" She nearly jumped out of her skin. On the ground in front of her lay a Sangheili. It was coated in it's own blood, eyes were glassy. 2 white, sharp electric prongs protruded out of its chest. It was very much dead.

"A friend of your?" Liv said. "Wasn't exactly in the talking mood." He shrugged. "I thought we had a truce with the Covenant."

"A lot can happen in 4 years." Cortana sighed. "Come on; let's see what we're dealing with."

Olivia thought about it again as they continued on. That had never happened before. What if- _Stop_, she thought to herself, _stop, it's nothing. You're alright now. You just simply slipped. You've just been a little out of it since you woke up from cryo stasis. It's just your nerves getting to you. You're fine now._

Oh she wanted to believe she was fine, but what she saw in her visor, scared her.

John found the blast door controls at the observation deck. The magnetic locks to the blast door hissed open. "Your friend back there, wasn't outfitted like any normal infantry. It may just be a salvager." The blast door slid clear of the observation window. Her eyes widened at what she saw. Covenant battle ships in defense positions lined the opens space in front of them. Banshees patrolled around the remains of the _Forward unto Dawn_.

"Some salvage team." Liv groaned. "Ok, maybe we stumbled into an entire Covenant fleet." Cortana said. "_Maybe?_"

"I don't mean to add to your panic attack but, we have bigger problems. There's a cruiser on an intercept course."

"Cortana, didn't the ships sensors say we still had weapons systems online." John asked raising his assault rifle. "Yes but since the ship was torn in half, we can't access them." Cortana answered. "We'll have to fire them manually from the ships outer haul."

"Mark the closest air lock."

_****BREAK****_

With the door behind them sealed shut, the airlocks hissed open. "The auxiliary launch station should be on your far left outside the airlock." Cortana said calmly. John's HUD suddenly encountered interference; it became very fuzzy with static. But what was strange, Cortana seemed to be affected as well. Her voice became distorted. "You'll have to prime the launch for ignition!"

"Cortana?" "It's nothing, just get to the launch system."

Liv stepped out of the air lock. "Well looked like we'll have to fight our way there." Liv groaned. "Why can something be simple for a change?" Several boarding parties stood between them and the launch controls.

"Simple, if it's too easy you're not doing it right." Cortana said.

A much larger problem caught their attention as they headed out. They hadn't notice that they were orbiting a planet. But this was different; there was no visible land of any bodies of water. You couldn't see any of the planet's surface. It was covered entirely in an outer shell made of metal. "Did I miss us orbiting a Forerunner planet?"

"One thing at a time. Cruiser first, planet later."


End file.
